A design and innovation challenge sponsored by the Department of Health & Human Services.

SKILLS

UX Research

Competitive Analysis

Journey Mapping

Wireframing

A/B Testing

Visual Design

UX CHARLOTTE TEAM

Amy Henty

Arwen Varner-Howland

Dan Coulter

Gareth Jones

Jon Harris

Riley Huston

Stephanie Huston

Taliessin Schuszler

Our main goal was to provide guidance and clarification on how medical billing and insurance work, so people can make informed decisions and effectively utilize their insurance and health care services.

To achieve this goal, we began by sharing our own personal complaints about medical billing and insurance.

"What is an explanation of benefits, anyway? What are you supposed to do with it?"

We found that the research documents provided also echoed our sentiments. For many, it’s extremely difficult to pick the right insurance plan for their needs, identity any costly insurance errors, and decide on the best time to have elective treatments (factoring in deductible and max out-of-pocket status).

We chose to work within the existing system, hoping that our designs could be impactful in the near future. We assessed opportunities for the medical bill (Bill) and explanation of benefits (EOB) including adding a more broad and comprehensive look into the subscribers EOB.

Our design process |Understand⟶ Create ⟶ Validate ⟶ Repeat

Research & Competitive Analysis

We cut sample bills and EOBs into modules for easier comparison and reorganization.

Wireframing

Idea generation through whiteboarding and wireframing. This is where we realized the EOB could be utilized to guide and educate patients on the extent of their insurance resources.

Iteration & User Testing

We conducted A/B tests with 14 participants, many of who were friends and family. Although the small sample size, many good ideas emerged through testing.

Insights Gained

After user testing, we identified two characteristics that summarize how people interact with medical documents: level of understanding and level of interest. We combined these to create four different patient profiles.

Designing a Complemetary Pair

Designing for the four patient profiles helped us ensure that we met the needs of a wide variety of people. We also designed them as a pair rather than forcing patients to understand and navigate two completely different documents.

The Design Solution

These designs for the Bill and EOB aim to take a complex system and make it understandable. We wanted the documents to be clear so people felt engaged and in control of their decisions rather than feeling confused and helpless. A big motivator to improve understanding was the many stories of avoidable and unnecessary poor financial outcomes due to uninformed insurance decisions. We wanted to convert questions into insights so that people can better plan treatment, understand and plan for costs, and pick coverage appropriate to their needs.

Journey Map

This journey map improves upon the existing process regarding medical documents. It illustrates the users' feelings during and around their touchpoints with our Medical Bill and EOB.